Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"Saint Dymphnae" is magnificent. Cat Hope one of the most inspiring artists of our time. Gata Negra is reconfirmed as one of the most remarkable Australian musical truths, as the debut "Cage of Stars" had already opportunely demonstrated. For those with the incurable need for credentials, remember that Cat Hope has collaborated with the likes of Hugo Race, Stellarc, Ikue Mori; and dare I say that her Gata Negra goes way beyond these artists. The atmosphere of "Saint Dymphnae" is consumately and fascinatingly noir, the veil of existential sadness that it covers these 'pop' songs is unequalled (Once Upon A Time and Your Smile Betrays You are shining examples); the expressive depth and intensity are simply unique. - Mauro Carrasai
Describing Gata Negra's sound is not an easy task. Maybe like the poetry of Jim Morrison and Ani DiFranco's love child set to the music of Silver Ray & The Dirty Three with Beth Gibbons from Portishead providing the vocals (though in my opinion Cat Hope, Gata Negra's singer / songwriter, has better vocal delivery and feeling) - Fran B
"Hypnotic songs… Hypnotic and enticing. Beautiful and true. Original and warm. Minimalist and obscure. Once could find a thousand such words to describe the incredibly rich atmosphere that Cat Hope's GATA NEGRA has created. - Luc Balma
"Its a rare and beautiful thing to discover a band that utterly avoids categorisation and generic restraints, forcing the listener to think beyond the typical three-word summation to which most bands and albums can sadly be reduced to. Gata Negra have no discernible musical limitations and deserve your attention if only to remind you that this whole music shebang survives through dynamic aberrations and hybridisation... the band reverberates within its own spectre of humanity. At times bleak, at times redemptive, but always unrelenting in is honesty. Hope's vocals evoke the same unnerving authenticity that Nico explored with the added breathlessness of a Julie Cruise hymn. - Micheal Lock
on "Cage OF Stars" :This is a work of art: it has skill, emotion and thought. You don't get all three together often enough. - Micheal Seaman
Gata Negra has come to enlarge the circle of women, from PJ Harvey to Cat Power, who don't hesitate to reveal intimacy in their music - Philipe Juge
Discography
1999 - Cage of Stars - LP
2002 - Saint Dymphnae - LP
2002 - Taste of Iron - EP
you can find Gata negra on the web at
http://www.mp3.com/gata_negra
http://www.mp3.com.au/gatanegra
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Gata Negra have been around for over 4 years and are based in Perth, Western Australia. They have toured Europe twice and extnsively in Australia.
They have a unique instrumentation and put alot on the importance on the production of thier albums which often inlcude visiting artists from around Europe, where songwriter Cat Hope was based for many years before returning home to Australia. Cat's sensual singing style and unique songwriting generating from the bass makes Gata Negra a really special listening and live experience. Vocal harmonies from 2 female and one male add another dimension.
The band quote big influences for them being Low, Nina Simone, Scott Walker and Lisa Germano as well as film music such as Morricone and Lalo Schifrin. . .Fans of Gata Negra include Low (!), Mick Harvey, Augie March, Machine Gun Fellatio and Caberet Voltaire. All memebers are trained musicians with varied backgrounds in jazz, noise, classical, avante guarde and bands. The band are big on visuals, and often feature video footage at thier live performances. Cat Hope has directed clips for the band, which have been nominated for several awards in Australia and overseas and have had high rotation in Australia. They are both from the Saint Dymphnae album.
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